Published: Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.

BELLEVIEW — The qualifying deadline has passed and the new Belleview City Commission will look a whole lot like the old city commission.

On Thursday, the mayor and two commissioners were automatically re-elected for another term when they remained unopposed after the 4 p.m. qualifying deadline passed.

Up for election were Seat 1, currently held by Michael Goldman; Seat 3, currently held by Ronald Livsey; and mayor/commissioner, currently held by Christine Dobkowski.

Commissioners serve four-year terms; the mayor is elected for a two-year term.

The city of Belleview covers 3.3 square miles. As of last year, 4,562 residents lived within city limits.

This was Livsey's first time up for re-election since being appointed by the commission in July 2013 to serve out the rest of Wilma Loar's term after she resigned from her post.

“What we want to do is basically — as a commission — is basically improve downtown Belleview,” Livsey said of his future plans. “Make Belleview a better place to live, a nice town to look at and bring in more businesses.”

He pointed to the addition of Mojo's restaurant, as well as upcoming Zaxby's, Dunkin' Donuts and Ace Hardware venues as helping the city, which has seen turnover in smaller businesses. But, Livsey said, he does not want the city to lose its small-town charm and he wants to keep taxes down.

Dobkowski is the 45th mayor of Belleview and the second woman to hold the office. She previously served as a commissioner.

She said she hopes residents might see a splash park by the spring.

“I'm going to try to go out and do some fundraising on behalf of the city so we have some more definitive plans,” she said.

The splash park would be built near the water tower and is part of a larger proposal to relocate the public works area currently on the site to a new location to make room for the splash park and a community center.

“It would be wonderful to see that finished within the next couple of years,” Dobkowski said.

Like Livsey, she also wants to continue economic development and wants to continue to keep fees low and streamline the building process to bring in new businesses.

“People come to the commission and they bring their concerns, and I think that the current commission is extremely empathetic with everybody that show’s up,” he said referencing several recent concerns brought to the commission’s attention.

He said the fact that all three candidates were unopposed at the end of qualifying is a testament that residents are content or even happy with the current commission.

“It’s been great energy with the current commission, and I’m glad it’s going to stay together for another two to four years because everybody seems to be likeminded,” Goldman said. “ We’re citizen-oriented.”

Rounding out the commission are Gary Ernst and Robert “Bo” Smith, whose seats will be up for election in 2016.

<p>BELLEVIEW — The qualifying deadline has passed and the new Belleview City Commission will look a whole lot like the old city commission.</p><p>On Thursday, the mayor and two commissioners were automatically re-elected for another term when they remained unopposed after the 4 p.m. qualifying deadline passed.</p><p>Up for election were Seat 1, currently held by Michael Goldman; Seat 3, currently held by Ronald Livsey; and mayor/commissioner, currently held by Christine Dobkowski.</p><p>Commissioners serve four-year terms; the mayor is elected for a two-year term.</p><p>The city of Belleview covers 3.3 square miles. As of last year, 4,562 residents lived within city limits.</p><p>This was Livsey's first time up for re-election since being appointed by the commission in July 2013 to serve out the rest of Wilma Loar's term after she resigned from her post.</p><p>“What we want to do is basically — as a commission — is basically improve downtown Belleview,” Livsey said of his future plans. “Make Belleview a better place to live, a nice town to look at and bring in more businesses.”</p><p>He pointed to the addition of Mojo's restaurant, as well as upcoming Zaxby's, Dunkin' Donuts and Ace Hardware venues as helping the city, which has seen turnover in smaller businesses. But, Livsey said, he does not want the city to lose its small-town charm and he wants to keep taxes down.</p><p>Dobkowski is the 45th mayor of Belleview and the second woman to hold the office. She previously served as a commissioner.</p><p>She said she hopes residents might see a splash park by the spring.</p><p>“I'm going to try to go out and do some fundraising on behalf of the city so we have some more definitive plans,” she said.</p><p>The splash park would be built near the water tower and is part of a larger proposal to relocate the public works area currently on the site to a new location to make room for the splash park and a community center.</p><p>“It would be wonderful to see that finished within the next couple of years,” Dobkowski said.</p><p>Like Livsey, she also wants to continue economic development and wants to continue to keep fees low and streamline the building process to bring in new businesses.</p><p>Goldman looks forward to keeping the commission's citizen-oriented focus.</p><p>“People come to the commission and they bring their concerns, and I think that the current commission is extremely empathetic with everybody that show's up,” he said referencing several recent concerns brought to the commission's attention.</p><p>He said the fact that all three candidates were unopposed at the end of qualifying is a testament that residents are content or even happy with the current commission.</p><p>“It's been great energy with the current commission, and I'm glad it's going to stay together for another two to four years because everybody seems to be likeminded,” Goldman said. “ We're citizen-oriented.”</p><p>Rounding out the commission are Gary Ernst and Robert “Bo” Smith, whose seats will be up for election in 2016.</p><p><i>Contact April Warren at 867-4065 or april.warren@ocala.com.</i></p>